


Stripes

by TheLuckOfTheClaws



Category: Beetlejuice (1988), Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: All I do is write Beetlejuice crossovers, But uhh stripy ghost buddies :3, Gen, HOW DO YOU TAG THINGS, Keet being a decent person, Past Character Death, The Bite of '87, tags will be updated as I keep writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 13:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLuckOfTheClaws/pseuds/TheLuckOfTheClaws
Summary: In the year 1988 escaping the Netherworld yet again, Betelgeuse takes shelter in an abandoned pizzeria that was left to rot. In there, he stumbles across a fellow lost soul with a matching coat of stripes.
Relationships: Beetlejuice & Charlie Emily, Charles Deetz/Delia Deetz, Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Marionette | The Puppet & The Five Missing Children
Kudos: 2





	Stripes

A couple months had passed since Betelgeuse had been swallowed by that sandworm and sent back to the Netherworld waiting room. He’d managed to escape again before having to interact with Juno, thankfully, booking it out the nearest portal door the first chance he got, which seemed to have exited somewhere in Utah. He’d been lying low since then, drifting from place to place. Right now he was phasing through the back wall of some defunct restaurant for children—utterly ridiculous to have built a whole place for a bunch of kids to tear apart and eventually abandon. Back in  _ his _ day they just played outside and mostly died before their first birthday. But it was dry at least and the ceiling wasn’t leaking from the storm outside, though the wind rattled through the windows of the empty building.

As he wandered aimlessly through the building, he spotted a desk with a broken monitor and several buttons on it. One of the buttons had a music note on it and he pushed that one, just for the hell of it. Nothing much happened, but he could have sworn he heard a music box begin to chime in the front of the pizzaria. Since it was at least a point of interest he headed towards the sound, seeing a small music box playing a little tune set up next to what looked like a large blue present with purple ribbons. The music box abruptly changed to a different song, playing much louder and faster. Then the top of the box popped open with a puff of black smoke, startling him. He took a step forward to peer in the box and saw nothing inside. Suddenly string wrapped around his wrists from behind and yanked him flat onto his back. The pale masklike face of some sort of creature got too close to his face and let out an earsplitting screech. 

Rather miffed about getting the nonexistent wind knocked out of him, Betelgeuse’s expression was completely unchanged.

“Not bad, not bad. My turn.”

He used his powers to shove the creature up and away, jumping to his feet and scrambling back. Now that he had a better look at the creature, swaying menacingly several feet above the ground, he could see that it was probably mechanical. It looked vaguely humanoid but very tall and thin, being mostly black with white stripes down the limbs, three buttons on the chest, and the aforementioned white face. It’s face didn't seem to have any way to emote and it’s eyes were dark pits with tiny white pinpricks, purple tearstreaks rolling down to a wide black mouth. It moved in the air like a puppet on a string and he cocked his head to the side. 

“What kind of critter  _ are _ you?”

Then, off to the side, he glimpsed motion and light in the back doorway, just for a moment. Before he could turn to look at it, whatever it had been was gone. The Puppet screeched again and he glanced back at them, and then to the place where he’d seen that thing.

“Race ya,” he said before bolting in the other direction. The Puppet gave chase, but he could run through walls, while it had to go around them, so they were fairly evenly matched in terms of speed. A few steps ahead of him actually catching sight of it, masked by it's speed and by a dim green glow,  _ something _ was definitely moving. It ruffled the paper of the crappy kids drawings on the walls as it moved past, finally darting into a back room. He wheeled around the entrance and stopped abruptly. 

Standing there was an unimaginably small little girl, staring at him with wide eyes. She had on a small wristband that glowed neon green, the only light source in the room. Her eyes were black with white irises, just like the Puppet hovering behind him. There was a ring of bruises around her throat, hauntingly similar to Betelgeuse’s own neck hidden beneath his suit.

The little girl moved her hands like a puppeteer and the black and white robot moved around him, touching down just behind her. From there it mirrored her actions perfectly, as if they were one and the same.

“You can see me without the Puppet. Who are you?” she asked. 

“I’m—uh—not important. Question is, who are you? What’s a critter like you doing in this dump?”

Her little nose wrinkled up with fury.

“It’s  _ not _ a dump! My dad built it just for me!”

He held his hands up placatively.

“Okay, touchy subject, definitely not a dump. I’m sure it was, uh,  _ great _ when it was up and running. But it looks like it’s been closed down for a while now. Hey, while we’re on the topic, what is a little kid’s ghost doing in a place built  _ for _ children?”

The whites of her eyes burned just a little bit brighter and he got the feeling that she hadn’t liked that at all. Betelgeuse took a step back as she and the Puppet rose an inch or two off the ground.

“You look an awful lot like the person I’ve tried to find, you scruffy man in your fancy suit. How do I know you’re not trying to trick me?”

“Me? Trick people? Never! I just got here. I’m dead, just like you. I mean, look at us, we’re simpatico, we have matching stripes!”

He jumped forward and held out his arm against the Puppet to compare black-and-white. This gave the little girl pause and she lowered back down.

“You’re a ghost? Like me? But you’re a grown-up, and I didn’t give you anything.” 

“...Huh?”

They exchanged equally confused looks.

“Okay, hold on, ya didn’t  _ give me anything?  _ What’s that supposed to mean?”

“...there were other kids like me, before. I gave them my gifts so they could stay. Like this!”

She held her hands out in front of her, concentrating. A small cube of glowing light appeared for a few moments, before vanishing as she put her hands away sheepishly.

“I don’t think it would work on grownups, since the only dead adult I ever saw faded away before I got to him. When he died, they shut everything down and took the others away, trapped inside the things I tethered them to.”

Jesus—there were  _ more _ dead kids in restaurants out there. He put that out of his mind for a second and focused back on what she had just said, putting both hands on his hips and leaning down.

“Did you just say that you...were able to  _ control _ where other ghosts’ manifestation boundaries where?”

He was met with a blank look and sighed. Not even the Maitlands understood the complicated jargon of the Netherworld offices, of course this kid didn’t.

“When you first died, you should have found a big book somewhere in here. Do you have that?”

“I don’t have any books. I can’t read, I’m three.”

“Oh. That’s okay, when I first died I couldn’t read either. But-” he put a hand on her shoulder- “Just because you can’t read does not mean you cannot enjoy books, and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Not important. The point is, maybe you and I could help each other out. Y’know, some ghost to ghost solidarity?”

Betelgeuse glanced at the room around them.

“Actually, can we have this conversation somewhere a bit less cramped?”

***

The little girl was content to move back to the prize counter, where she now sat beside her box. The Puppet was curled inside the box, hands gripping the edge and its head poked out. Betel was leaned back with his arms folded behind his head, floating at eye level parallel to the prize countertop.

“So, you can’t remember anything else about your death?”

“Nope, all I know is the tall man in the purple suit was there that night. The others told me they saw him in the Yellow Bonnie, though.”

“Kay, yeah, and you want to find the ‘others’ and show that...purple guy what for, am I right?”

She nodded. He pushed his face into a thin-lipped smile.

“Well, kid, if you need help combating the living,

you are definitely in luck that I happened to stop by. I am the number-one licensed bio-exorcist this side of Saturn. And my prices are to  _ die _ for,” he boasted, already getting into the spiel.

The girl rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t have money at all—I had a piggy bank at home, but that was five years ago, and I don’t think it’s still there—so what do you want?”

He sat up straighter.

“Well that’s the best part. All I need in return is for you to say my name three times.”

“You haven’t told me your name. Oh, but I haven’t said mine either. I’m Charlie!”

Betel nodded, thinking of the last time he’d done business with other ghosts

“Ah, another Chuck. Keep runnin’ into those lately.”

“Huh?”

“Not important. The thing about my name is that I am cursed to be unable to say it aloud. And you can’t read, so I can’t write it down for ya. How are you with charades?”

Charlie rested her cheek atop a small hand and frowned.

“I dunno, I’ve never played charades before. Give it a try!”

***

“Alligator!”

“...no.”

“A trombone player?”

“Kid. Work with me here.”

“Beetle?”

“Yes!”

Betelgeuse stopped wiggling his hands near his mouth in an imitation of pincers and jumped to his feet.

“That’s it, that’s all ya need!”

Charlie tilted her head to the side, kicking her legs listlessly.

“Second part, Juice; first part, Beetle. That’s a funny name.”

“Oh, come on, just say it proper! Then I can help you find your buddies.  _ Pleeease _ ?”

“O—kay. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetle-juice!”

_ “Yes!” _

A plume of pale green smoke burst out from around him and when it cleared, he was standing up straight, looking much more physical and grounded. Charlie coughed even through she didn’t need to breathe.

“What was  _ that _ for?” she asked.

“Well, you could already see me, due to being a ghost, but if there  _ had _ been any living people around, they would’ve been able to see me too now. Now, is there any chalk in this place?”

“There might be some in the art corner!”

“Perfect. Lead the way, kiddo.”

Charlie hopped down off the counter, her Puppet body trailing behind. She walked across the room to a small table set up with long-forgotten colored pencils, crumbling crayons, and yellowing paper. Drawings were taped to the walls. And on one wall, there was a small easel of chalkboard. The Puppet reached out to pick up a small piece of chalk and offered it to Betelgeuse.

“Will this work?” she asked, “and also why do you need chalk?”

“Well, if we want to find your buddies, I reckon the easiest way to do that is take a quick detour through the Netherworld. And to get in, we need to draw a chalk door.”

“Don’t draw one out here! You’d ruin the walls! Can you draw it in the back somewhere where it won’t be as obvious,  _ please _ ?”

Charlie shot puppy eyes up at him and he sighed.

“Fine, you run and get anything you need to bring with you, then we go find a better blank wall to draw the door on. Capiche?”

“Mhm.”

Charlie moved the puppet to pick up her music box, carefully disconnecting it from the wires that went to the security office, and placed it inside the puppet’s box. Then the puppet lifted the box in it's claws and resumed following them.

Betelgeuse stopped the puppet and leaned over to place a hand under the box

“Let me carry that for ya, kid,” he said, straightening up and taking the box with him like it weighed nothing. Then he headed for the back rooms of the pizzeria. As they walked, he had time to glance around and examine the scenery. Tucked away in one room were four deactivated animatronics, slumped over against the wall. A brown bear; a blue rabbit; some kind of three-legged, fucked up pink-and-white animal with what looked like red stains around its mouth; and a somewhat curvy yellow bird. Betel grinned to himself, letting out a wolf whistle as he passed the bird. Charlie stopped to see what he was looking at and scrunched her face up.

“Hey, don’t be  _ weird _ about Chica.”

She pushed at his leg to get him to keep moving.

Finally they found a blank wall in the back room that looked clean enough to draw on. He drew a large rectangular shape and rapped against the wall three times. As it began to open in an outline of green light, Betelgeuse turned down to look at the little girl standing by his feet.

“Listen, kid, you seem to have some kind of special ability, and while I don’t know if I’m responsible enough to handle any of that, I  _ know _ that the civil servants down there are definitely not going to have ya. And anyone like you being seen near me is going to attract a lot of unwanted attention that will impede our progress. So, what I’m trying to say is: get in.”

He tilted the present box down for her with the top flaps held open. 

“Wait, what?”

“Just trust me on this. You can move that puppet thing around like an extension of yourself, can’t you? I saw you do it. So just steer the puppet from inside here.”

“Okay, I guess…”

Charlie floated up to climb inside and shut the flaps most of the way, so only the top half of her head and eyes could be seen poking through. Betelgeuse hefted it under one arm, opened the door the rest of the way, and strolled into the blinding light, the Puppet trailing after him.


End file.
